By Feral, do you mean wild????
What is a Feral Cat colony and how on earth do they
ever get started? This has been and very probably will
continue to be a problem for caretakers of cats. Lets
take a scenario: Joe, down the street, comes home from
work one night to find his child has brought home a
kitten. Now what's not to love about a baby kitten?
Joe says O.K., you can keep it as long as you take
care of it. His child names this little ball of fur
and fun Fluffy. Fluffy grows and flourishes under
Joe's wife's care. Unfortunately she doesn't care
enough to get Fluffy neutered or have regular health
checks, Joe doesn't notice Fluffy and his child has
outgrown the "fun". Fluffy reaches 7 months of age and
his hormones come in with a vengeance. He begins
spraying objects around the house to mark his
territory and has taken to roaming the neighborhood at
night looking for a little "action". Mrs. Joe becomes
quite agitated at the constant urine smell and forces
Fluffy to live outside, but Fluffy isn't giving up
that easy. His next quest? Joe's car! One morning Joe
is leaving for work and picks up a couple of car pool
buddies. They make remarks about the ripe smell of his
car and Joe arrives home that night in a rage. Fluffy
is picked up, put in a carrier and driven to an empty
lot just outside of town. He is dumped like excess
garbage and the "Joe" family drives away not looking
back.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the street the exact
same scene has played out except this time the kitten
is female. She has taken to yelling and crying all
night, looking for Mr. Right. After two nights of
missed sleep her family drives her to a spot very near
Fluffy's where she too is dumped. These cats have
become "homeless". They are someone's beloved pets who
were dumped for any number of reasons. They now must
forage for food and shelter from the elements. Somehow
they find each other and since neither one was altered
they make a family. Their kittens are Feral Cats. They
do not know, nor will they probably ever know, humans.
They do not get needed vaccinations, nor spay/neuter.
They are left to make their own way in the world and
through inbreeding, after about 3 generations, we will
see the results in sickly or unformed/malformed
kittens.
This is a cruel scar to be worn by a nation as rich
and diverse as ours is. This is just one example of
why spaying/neutering is needed!
What can we do about these colonies? We can, as the
species with the opposing thumbs, do a lot. We can
humanely trap, then spay/neuter and health check the
adults. If they can be socialized and adopted into
loving worthy homes all the better. Many of these
adults are too Feral to be socialized so they are
returned to their colonies to live out their life
under the watchful eye of a caretaker who will see
that they have adequate food, shelter and fresh water.
We can control the Feral Cat Population with very
little effort on our part. Humane traps can be bought
or borrowed from your local shelter. Please get
involved today and save a life. I thank you for this.
Author: Jeri Dopp
What is a Feral Cat colony and how on earth do they
ever get started? This has been and very probably will
continue to be a problem for caretakers of cats. Lets
take a scenario: Joe, down the street, comes home from
work one night to find his child has brought home a
kitten. Now what's not to love about a baby kitten?
Joe says O.K., you can keep it as long as you take
care of it. His child names this little ball of fur
and fun Fluffy. Fluffy grows and flourishes under
Joe's wife's care. Unfortunately she doesn't care
enough to get Fluffy neutered or have regular health
checks, Joe doesn't notice Fluffy and his child has
outgrown the "fun". Fluffy reaches 7 months of age and
his hormones come in with a vengeance. He begins
spraying objects around the house to mark his
territory and has taken to roaming the neighborhood at
night looking for a little "action". Mrs. Joe becomes
quite agitated at the constant urine smell and forces
Fluffy to live outside, but Fluffy isn't giving up
that easy. His next quest? Joe's car! One morning Joe
is leaving for work and picks up a couple of car pool
buddies. They make remarks about the ripe smell of his
car and Joe arrives home that night in a rage. Fluffy
is picked up, put in a carrier and driven to an empty
lot just outside of town. He is dumped like excess
garbage and the "Joe" family drives away not looking
back.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the street the exact
same scene has played out except this time the kitten
is female. She has taken to yelling and crying all
night, looking for Mr. Right. After two nights of
missed sleep her family drives her to a spot very near
Fluffy's where she too is dumped. These cats have
become "homeless". They are someone's beloved pets who
were dumped for any number of reasons. They now must
forage for food and shelter from the elements. Somehow
they find each other and since neither one was altered
they make a family. Their kittens are Feral Cats. They
do not know, nor will they probably ever know, humans.
They do not get needed vaccinations, nor spay/neuter.
They are left to make their own way in the world and
through inbreeding, after about 3 generations, we will
see the results in sickly or unformed/malformed
kittens.
This is a cruel scar to be worn by a nation as rich
and diverse as ours is. This is just one example of
why spaying/neutering is needed!
What can we do about these colonies? We can, as the
species with the opposing thumbs, do a lot. We can
humanely trap, then spay/neuter and health check the
adults. If they can be socialized and adopted into
loving worthy homes all the better. Many of these
adults are too Feral to be socialized so they are
returned to their colonies to live out their life
under the watchful eye of a caretaker who will see
that they have adequate food, shelter and fresh water.
We can control the Feral Cat Population with very
little effort on our part. Humane traps can be bought
or borrowed from your local shelter. Please get
involved today and save a life. I thank you for this.
Author: Jeri Dopp
